Assorting table deflecting means



April 22, 1930. E. L. A. MORROW ASSORTINGIABLE DEFLECTING MEANS FiledJune 4, 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet l duozmaq Apr 930- E. L. A. MORROW 1,755,660

' ASSOR'IING TABLE DEFLECTING MEANS Filed June 4, 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 2Kl d2 Morrow A ril 22, 1930. E. A. MO RQW 1,755,660

ASSOR'IING TABLEDEFLECTING MEANS Filed June 4, 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 3p.40 sorting table.

Patented Apr. 22, 1930 .LjUsTEn A. monnow, or sunnysrnn wnsnrneronnsson'r ne TABLE DEIELECTING eans Application filear i iaieee. SerialNo.113,685.

Theinvention relates to asserting tables particularly adapted forassorting fruits and vegetables, but applicable forgeneral use, andparticularly designed forassorti'ng potatoes.

, A further object is. to provide the table partitions with rearwardly;extending deflecting arms having link connections and adapted to beshifted laterally at the end of the table whereby'potatoes will bedischarged in} 0 to'spa'ced-sacks carriediby sackho-lders at the;

end of the table. f r V Afu-rther object is to provide hinged defleetingmembers above the discharge end of the conveyor and movablelaterallyover the 15 conveyor, and'a transverse supporting bar above theconveyor'and arched by U-shaped members carried by the deflectingmembers for supporting thedeflecting. members and guiding thesameastheyare shifted laterally.

129 IWith .theabove and other objectsin view the-inventionresides'in-the combination and arrangement of partsa's hereinafter setforth,

shown in the drawing, described'and claimed,

it being understood that changes in theprecise embodiment oftheinv'ention maybe made within the scope of what 'isclaimed withoutdeparting from the spirit of the in-' vention; i

' In the drawings ing machine. v a

:Figure 2 is a top plan' view of the assortin -machi-ne. v i

i igur'e 3 is a verticallongitudinal section'- al view through theasserting machine; V

' Figure 4 is'a detail sectional view taken on line 1 l'ofFigure 1;Figure 5'is a detail perspective view of one of itheybag holders and aportionof the as- Figurefi is a perspective view of the hingeddeflecting members. :a' 1 Referring to the drawing, the numeral 1designates the .assortin table which is hori- 5 zontally disposed and-2the inclined and up wardly extending feeding conveyor as, a

whole. 7 I e a Theassorting table 1' comprises a frame 3,:

which frame comprises spaced side bals'df and5 anddisposed insaid frameis an end extends across the rear end of less conveyor 6 which extendsover sprockets 7" carried by transversely disposed shafts 8 and 9 at theends of the frame 3. Shaft 9" is preferably mounted in belt tighteners;10

whereby theendlessconveyor (imaybemaintained at a proper tension.Endless conveyor 6 comprises sprocket chains '11 which extend over thesprockets 7 and transversely disposed spaced slats12 on which potatoesare conveyedr The frame 3 is supported onlegs 13,'a'nd' it is to beunderstood that the frame may be formed from any material however it ispreferably built upffrom'metal angles and o channels.-- Disposed abovethe endless conveyor 6 and adjacent the upperiside bars 4t t ofthe frameare longitudinally disposed par titions :14, which partitions at spacedpoints are provided with outwardly curved deflecting members 15, whichextend outwardly to points adjacent the discharge openings 1'6'at theinner ends of the bag holders 1 7, and it will be seen whenbags 18 areplaced in the bag-holders17 potatoes which may be picked from the mainbody thereof; whichare being conveyed by the, conveyor 6, and'placedoutvside of the partitions 14 will bedischarged into bags carried by the bagholders; Hingedly'connectedat 19 to the endsof the I partitions14 arerearwardly deflecting mem bers 20, which members extendjslightly be-Iyond'the end of the conveyorand are maintained in uniform spaced"relation by means 7 ofa link connection 21', which is connected at 22to the arms 2 3"of u-shaped members pand-Whioh 'U-shaped members archthe r upper side of the supporting bar 25'fwhich 7 table. it willf'be'noted the brackets 24 "are carried by the deflecting members 20, and

moved-to positions to discharge intoeither of thebag holding devices 1-7and bags carried thereby at the end ofthe'table; A'freceptacle 26 (may.be placed on the -flooror ground beneath-the vspace between -the holders17", *whereby any of the potatoes discharged from the. end of theconveyor, 6

during thershifting operation iwill 'be disthe asserting i charged intothe receptacle. The supporting bar 25 is provided with spring clips 27which receive and grip the U-shaped members 24 according to the positionof the deflecting members'20 and prevent displacement of the deflectingmembers 20 incident to the pressure on the inner sides thereof whiledeflecting potatoes into either sack carried by the sack holders 17 Theouter end of the shaft 8 is provided a with a sprocket 28-and extendingaround said sprocket 28 and a sprocket 29 carried by the transverselydisposed shaft 30 is a sprocket chain 31, and it will be seen when theshaft 30 is rotated through the medium of the belt 32 which moves in thedirection of the arrow.

as and. the pulley 33, the table conveyor 6 will be operated. The belt32 extends forwardly and over a small pulley 34 rotatably nounted on adrive shaft 35, and which drive shaft is provided with a drive pulley36, over which a belt 37 extends, and which belt may lead toany suitablesource of power. Slid an arm connection40 with the slidable clutchmember and against the action of the colled ably keyed on the shaft is aclutch member 38, which is adapted to be moved into and' out ofclutchedrelation with the pulley 34 through the medium of a lever- 39having spring 41, therefore it will be seen that the V operator cancontrol the operation of the conveyor 6 may be mg mechanism has beendescribed, it isobvious any kind of power maybe used or the manuallyoperated if desired. I r r The bag holders 17 at the sides of the tableand 17 at the end of the table comprise horizontally disposed U-shapedmembers '42, the

arms of which are preferably hingedly connected at 43 to thevertical'arms 44 of upwardly extending U-shaped members 45 carried bythe sides ofthe assorting table, and

which 'U-shaped members 42 are supported connected to the arms of theU-shaped mom-- 7 her 42, and to the outer side thereof, and when 7 moveddownwardly into the plane of. the

U-shaped member42 receives said U-shaped member therein, and the upperend of the bag is gripped by said member. The U- shaped-member 42 isprovided with an outwardly extending arm 51 which is received betweenthe arms-52 of the handle members 53 of the U-shaped member 50, andafter whichthe slidable rectangular shaped memdevi'ce at all times.Although a power driv.

.ber 54 is moved inwardly to the positions shown in Figure 2 where itwill cooperate with the arm 51 and maintain the U-shaped members 42 andin the same plane and hold the bag. The discharge openings 16 areprovided with downwardly extending plates 55 which are designed toextend into the bags 18 for deflecting potatoes into the bags andunderwhich plates the inner sides of the bags are disposed.

The feeding oonveyor'2 comprises side bars .56which incline downwardlyand forwardly and are supported by the arms 57 and by the uppe r ends ofthe supporting legs 13. Disposed within the feeding conveyor 2 is anendless conveyor 58, whichconveyor extends over sprockets 59 carried bythe transversely disposed shafts 60 and 61, and the conveyoris driventhrough the medium of the sprocket 62 carried by one end of the shaft 60and the sprocket 63 OVBI' WhlCh the sprocket chain 64 extends,therefore. it will be seen that the driving mechanism for theendlessconveyor 58 gets itspower from-a single source. Disposed within thefeeding. conveyor 2 are longitudinally disposed spaced slats 65 over:which the transversely disposed bars 66 carried by theendlessconveyor58 ride for feeding and conveying. potatoesv upwardly and dischargingthe same onto theassorting table. By providing the spaced bars'65 itwill be seen that potatoes below-a predetermined size will drop betweensaid bars into a dis charge chute 67 disposed within the endlessconveyor 58,.and will discharge said undersize potatoes to one side ofthe feeding mechanism. Rockably mounted in bearings of the ends of thebars 57 is a transversely disposed shaft 68, which shaft is providedwith a plurality of downwardly and inwardlly extendarms 69 whichnormally engage onthe adjacent ends of the spaced bars 65 and form ahopper into which potatoes are placed when feeding the device. It willbe noted the bars 65 are closer together in the hopper portion of thefeeding device, and as the bars 66 pass under the arms 69, there will bea partial agitating or shaking of the potatoes for dislodging dirt,which willnot drop intothe discharge hopper '67, consequently theundersize potatoes will be discharged substantially free of dirt. Whereit is not desired to use afeeding mechanism as'shown, the potatoes maybe placed on the end of the assorting table, and the feeding conveyoreliminated, and at the same time the rock shaft 68 having the arms 69may be attached to the end of the assorting table.

From the above it will be seen that an assorting table and feedingmechanism therefor is provided which is simple in construction, onewherein a continuous operation takes place, and one whereintthe potatoesor other articles will be sized and can be easily assorted intodifierent receptacles. It will also be seen that the end of theassorting table is provided with spaced bag holders, and thehingeddefleeting members which are linked together may be easily andquickly manipulated whereby potatoes may be discharged into bagscarabove said conveyor, alink connection between said hlnged members, ahorlzontally disposed guide bar abovethe conveyor, brackets carried bythe hingedmembers and slidably mounted on the guide bar and arching theupper side thereof, said hinged members forming meanswhereby articlesmaybe discharged into either of two bag holders, and

means carried by the guide bar and cooperating with the brackets forholding the deflecting members in position to discharge into either ofsaid bag holders.

2. "The. combination with a conveyor, of hinged deflecting members abovesaid conveyor, supporting and guiding means for said deflecting members,said deflecting members being linked together, said supporting and guidemeans comprising a transversely disposed guide bar above the conveyor,U- shaped brackets carried by the deflecting 7 members and arching thebar and supporting I the deflecting members and latching means carriedby. the guidebar and positioned whereby when the free ends of thedeflecting .members' are in extreme positions to either side of theconveyor, said U-shaped brackets" will be gripped and held.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature.

E. LUSTER AQMORROW.

